Washington, DC – On September 20, the Biden administration announced that it will be extending and redesignating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans who arrived in the United States before July 31, 2023. On September 21, the administration announced the extension and redesignation of TPS for Afghanistan. TPS holders are given temporary status due to their inability to return home due to a variety of safety concerns, such as civil war, human rights violations, or natural disaster. TPS holders are also eligible for employment authorization, allowing recipients to more easily find jobs, and in turn, secure financial stability in their new communities. It is estimated that roughly 400,000 individuals will benefit from the protections for Venezuela. The redesignation for Afghanistan will ensure safety and stability for roughly 14,600 Afghan recent arrivals in the U.S.
While these extensions and redesignations are decisions that warrant celebration and relief, the administration also announced a series of actions to increase punitive and harmful enforcement at the border, including the continuation of a rapid deportation program for asylum-seeking families that has enabled the unprecedented deportation of migrant families. As the administration continues to implement the Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) program, it is perpetuating the marginalization of families who are seeking safety and acting counterintuitively to the guarantee of due process and fairness.
As people of faith, we are grateful that nearly 415,000 individuals will experience peace and security due to the extension of TPS for Venezuelans and Afghanistan. However, we continue to call for an overarching investment in a humane and compassionate asylum system that will welcome the persecuted, the vulnerable, and those in need of safety.
“Jesuit Refugee Service/USA applauds this decision by the Biden Administration to extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans,” said Joan Rosenhauer, President of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. “With this protected status, Venezuelans who have fled political persecution and instability will have greater security in the US including the opportunity to work and support themselves and their families. Along with these positive steps forward, we recognize the danger of expedited removal proceedings for families, and we continue to urge the Administration to provide a pathway to protection for all displaced persons and prioritize policies that welcome those seeking safety with dignity.”
“Venezuela has experienced unprecedented turmoil,” said Giovana Oaxaca, Program Director for Migration at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Co-Chair of the IIC. “The administration’s decision to expand Temporary Protected Status will mark a positive shift for Venezuelan children and their families, and single people who have sought peace, security, and stability in the United States while the country they know as home undergoes the largest displacement crisis in the world. Because human beings are created ‘in God’s image’ (Genesis 1:27), we can honor God’s image by ensuring that people are treated with dignity and given the opportunity to live out their potential. The same principle applies to asylum seeking families at the border fleeing persecution and more–the move to expand FERM is concerning, knowing it has made it harder for families of Indigenous backgrounds to get legal help. It’s prudent and humane to expand TPS and improve the overall asylum system.”
“Franciscan Action Network (FAN) welcomes the Biden administration’s extension and redesignation of TPS for Venezuela and Afghanistan,” said Sister Marie Lucey, Associate Director. “Venezuelan families and individuals have fled dangerous conditions and huge displacement in their home country, and expanded temporary protection honors the God-given dignity and human needs of thousands of suffering men, women, and children. At the same time, we continue to call on the administration to realize the threat to families if expedited removal proceedings move forward. As Franciscans, we urge the administration to offer compassion with both hands, not just one.”
“The Biden administration’s decision to extend these vital protections will mean that thousands of men, women, and children in our communities will breathe easier tonight. Both Afghanistan and Venezuela have experienced unprecedented tumult and violence over recent years; we have watched as American communities welcomed families with open arms after the fall of Kabul, and as cities have come together to help their new Venezuelan neighbors settle in. Redesignating TPS for both Afghanistan and Venezuela allows our Afghan and Venezuelan neighbors to build lives in safety and set them on the course to a more stable and secure future, and for that, we are relieved,” said Rev. Noel Andersen, National Field Director at Church World Service. “As people of faith driven by the call to welcome the sojourner, we must continue to invest in permanent, compassionate solutions. TPS is not a long-term form of permanent protection, and we will continue to call for the passage of legislation like the Afghan Adjustment Act to provide paths to permanency. However, anti-asylum programs like FERM erode due process, undermine our nation’s commitment to welcome and protect vulnerable populations, and return families into danger. Until we make holistic change that truly values and reflects the inherent humanity and dignity of our neighbors, we cannot wholeheartedly celebrate these temporary protections.”
“We are pleased that the Administration has redesignated and extended TPS for people from Venezuela and Afghanistan, who escaped horrific conditions and are unable to return to safety,” said Pablo DeJesús, executive director of Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. “As Unitarian Universalists, we value the inherent worth and dignity of all people. We want a migration system that is fair, humane, and effective, and we collaborate with our faith and immigrant allies toward that result. There is much more that needs to be done for millions in our country facing comparable uncertainty and danger due to our broken immigration system. The President must fight attempts to make the immigration framework more harsh and exclusionary. The Administration must: make access to asylum a full reality, provide the resources needed to properly handle immigration workloads, treat arriving migrants with respect and care, reduce the militarization of our border, and end prisons (called “detention”) for people awaiting processing of claims or with nonviolent civil immigration charges. Congress must: pass the Afghan Adjustment Act and finally provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and millions of other community members, and essential workers. Federal legislators must work toward comprehensive immigration reform,” concluded DeJesús.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants. Follow us on Twitter at @interfaithimm.
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